We had to do this some time ago because we were getting daily hurricane-force-wind alerts for--wait for it--Hurricane Ridge. These shrieking alerts woke us up a couple of times before we figured out how to turn them off.

Q. How do I turn off the Amber Alerts on my phone? Can I turn off other government messages as well?

A. Amber Alerts, one of which recently awakened many New Yorkers in the wee hours, are urgent bulletins about abductions and are issued by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children along with public safety officials. These free alerts, along with text messages about extreme weather, threatening situations and presidential announcements of national emergencies, are part of the Wireless Emergency Alerts system that began to operate fully last year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says people can opt out of Amber Alerts and alerts for “imminent threats” like serious weather. Alerts issued by the president, however, cannot be turned off, as mandated by Congress with the Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN) Act of 2006.

To turn off the alerts on an iPhone, tap open the Settings icon, tap Notifications and flick down the screen to Government Alerts, where Amber and Emergency alerts can be turned off or on. For Samsung’s new Galaxy S4, open the Messaging app, press the Menu button and then Settings. From there, tap Emergency Alerts to get to the screen where you can turn off Amber and weather notifications.